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Why Australia must stay the course in Afghanistan

Joshua Frydenberg

by Joshua Frydenberg

20 Dec 05:30am

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Filed under: Afghanistan, Afghanistan War, Al Qaeda, Diggers, Kevin Rudd, September 11, Terrorism

55 comments

News that our Diggers have rejected Kevin Rudd’s pessimistic view of the war in Afghanistan is no surprise.

The tragic price of a safer world. Photo: Defence Department

A foreign minister who derides the French and German contribution to the conflict as nothing more than ‘organising folk dancing festivals’ when each nation has suffered nearly 50 casualties is insensitive and out of touch.

Like our European friends Australia’s participation in Afghanistan is part of a broader international effort that is making considerable progress.

Our deployment has overwhelming support on both sides of the political divide and should have the unwavering support of our foreign minister.

I am conscious that within the community there are dissenting voices. This is understandable. War is a blunt instrument.

But there are times when neither the heavy human cost nor fragile public consensus should deter us in our task. There are times when we must take the hard decisions, stare down the detractors and steel our resolve.

In making the case in support of our commitment to Afghanistan we must remember why we first arrived there.

We must never forget the brutal slaying of nearly 3000 innocent civilians in 9/11 was planned by Al Qaeda from their safe haven in Afghanistan. We must never forget that ten Australians were among the nationals of 77 countries that died that day.

And we must never forget that since 2001, more than 100 Australians have been killed in terrorist attacks overseas. In each case, the perpetrators had links to Afghanistan. At the time of 9/11, Afghanistan was positioned at the axis of the global terrorist movement. Today this threat has not been permanently removed but has been severely weakened.

With 1550 Australian troops in the field we should be proud of the significant contribution Australia is making as part of the global effort. Today’s Coalition force of more than 120,000 troops comes from 47 different nations, including 19 non-NATO members.

Significantly there is also buy-in from the Islamic world with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan all having attended the Kabul conference in July.

The global jihadist movement is as much a threat to their regimes as it is to ours and their involvement in helping to resolve the conflict is a timely reminder that our battle is not with Islam but with an extremist ideology that has sought to hijack Islam for its own totalitarian ends.

The truth is the people of Afghanistan have now for the first time begun to get a glimpse through the window of hope. The military and civilian contribution of the international community is making a real difference.

A free press, an elected Parliament, greater access to education and health services are all in place and a domestic police and military force has been established which will eventually take over responsibility for maintaining security.

We must be under no illusions, in Afghanistan there is no overnight cure. Progress is gradual and hard fought and there are continuous setbacks. But we cannot be deterred as the commanders tell us we are making progress and we know the cause is too important to fail.

Were Australia to prematurely withdraw from Afghanistan we would be sending the worst possible message to the people of Afghanistan, to our steadfast ally the United States and to all those with the intention and wherewithal to harm our citizens and our interests.

We would be betraying our basic instinct as Australians to see a tough fight out even if it means taking blows along the way.

And what would we leave in our stead? An even more fragile country in the invidious position of being overrun by the Taliban and used once again as a safe haven for the global terrorist network.

The instability this would bring to neighbouring nuclear armed Pakistan should alarm every free thinking leader across the world.

But most tellingly of all, were Australia to exit before the job is done, what would one say to the families of the 21 Australian soldiers Killed in Action and the 152 Wounded in Action since 2001? These 21 brave men have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and we owe it to them to stay the course.

I have been very fortunate to get to know Felix and Yvonne Sher, the wonderful parents of Private Gregory Michael Sher.

Greg was tragically killed in a rocket attack in Oruzgan on Sunday 4th January 2009. A member of 2nd Company, 1st Commando Regiment he had been in Afghanistan for only 6 weeks and celebrated his 30th birthday only 4 weeks before his untimely death. Like his fellow fallen comrades Greg left behind a loving partner and adoring family.

Despite all the pain the Sher family has gone through, Felix wants it to be known that Afghanistan remains a cause worth fighting for.

He told me “we cannot withdraw until the momentum for peace, prosperity and the protection of women has reached the point where Afghanistan’s future can be secure. To do otherwise would make the contribution of our soldiers to have been in vain. It would also provide the Taliban with an opportunity to fill the vacuum and provide a fresh harvest of new recruits.”

The decision to take a country to war is the hardest decision its leaders can take. Having made that decision for all the right reasons in 2001 we now have a duty and a purpose in seeing it through.

Our military and civilian commitment to Afghanistan is in pursuit of a just cause, it is in Australia’s long term national security interest and it honours the bravest sacrifice of our fallen soldiers.

Josh Frydenberg MP is the Federal Member for Kooyong.

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55 comments

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    • TChong says:

      05:47am | 20/12/10

      Josh, you seem to be a capable chap- representative tennis, obvios strong beliefs that YOU are willing to shed other peoples blood for , yet in yur extensive CV, no military service. Hmmmm.
      At your age , you can still enlist.
      Guess you were to busy with global financing, and writing policies for Howard, and no time to place yourself in a position that you now want others to do.
      Nothing worse than those who advocate more death and destruction while knowing they wont be doing any of it.
      If more leaders, from Bin Laden to Bush , actually did the fighting, instead of their proxies, then the world may be a happier place.

      Reply

    • Rebecca says:

      08:50am | 20/12/10

      I agree completely. I support our brave troops but do not, in any way, support those who send them to war.
      I know I’m not a foreign policies expert… but the concept of war makes very little sense to me. The first argument of your justification was

      “We must never forget the brutal slaying of nearly 3000 innocent civilians in 9/11 was planned by Al Qaeda from their safe haven in Afghanistan.”

      You’re right, we must never forget that, and it was a huge tragedy. But does it mean that we should in turn put the lives of more innocent civilians in danger? No. There has to be a better way.

    • Ironside says:

      09:10am | 20/12/10

      Hey TChong. Some of your posts are witty and insightful, (even if I don’t agree with them) this isn’t one of them. A lack of military service on your CV is not a requiremtn of posting an opinion. I notice that anti war types are always quite vocal about lack of military service from pro war types, but they have no military experience of their own. Were I to send you my CV it would include the better part of 2 decades of military service including more time in Afghanistan and Iraq than I care to remember followed by a stint as a private contractor in Iraq (doing reconstruction not security) I have seen blood shed and shed no small amount of my own over those years and I can tell you with absolute certainly that we need to stay in Afghanistan, for every insurgent or terrorist in that place there are a thousand normal people who want a normal life. Running water, electricity, education, health etc. They didn’t have these things under the Taliban, and they are getting them slowly now. Yes the government of Afghanistan is corrupt (although no more corrupt than most other governments in the region) but they are controllable. Rebuilding this nation will take a lot of time and effort, but it will be worth it.

      In 2007 everyone thought that Iraq was about to have a civil war, it was a quagmire and the US had failed. Fast forward 12 months, the surge had worked, violence had dropped off about 80%, go forward to today and the US are all but gone, and the country is doing ok, all appropriate measures of national prosperity are going in the right direction. Is it as stable as a western democracy, no, but its probably in better shape than France ? Iraq took a long time and a lot of effort. So will Afghanistan, but since we went in there and took away the government they had, it behoves us to stay there until we deal with the issues that remain. The troops and their leaders deserve nothing less than our complete support.

    • James1 says:

      12:34pm | 20/12/10

      Ironside,

      Don’t be so quick to make such assertions.  Never heard of the Iraq Veterans Against the War organisation?

      http://www.ivaw.org/

      I don’t agree with Mr Chong, but your assertion that those against war have no military service is totally baseless.

    • acotrel says:

      02:46pm | 20/12/10

      What ever happened to the ‘Domino Effect’ in SE Asia.  We were all supposed to be over run by commies if Vietnam fell?

    • C1 says:

      05:52am | 20/12/10

      What a great Foreign Minister we have!!!

      Could you imagine the reaction if the German or French equivalents had made a similar public comparison of our commitment to Afghanistan.

      I guess their lack of reaction indicates the importance (or otherwise) that they place on Australia and its elected representatives.

      Quite sad when you think of it.

      Reply

    • notsurprised says:

      10:11am | 20/12/10

      What we are seeing is the true colours of a person who lacks the character and fortitude to hold a high level diplomatic position. It goes to show how media and spin can dress up an image resulting in an election win but there is not escaping the lack of substance when it is exposed.

    • Kevin says:

      07:00am | 20/12/10

      “To do otherwise would make the contribution of our soldiers to have been in vain.”
      This particular argument is repeatedly trotted out in support of “staying the course” in Afghanistan.  However, strategic decisions, particularly when they involve considerations of whether or not to put further lives at risk should not be based on the emotional responses of the families of those who have already perished.  The decisions need to be based on objective facts and careful analysis of military and political objectives.
      Many more Australian soldiers died in Vietnam but I doubt Mr Frydenberg would argue that we should have kept fighting there.
      Strategic withdrawal from a conflict does not lessen the sacrifice that fallen soldiers have made to our country.

      Reply

    • TONY GLYNN says:

      07:20am | 20/12/10

      Rubbish!  Join the army, go overseas, meet interesting people..  and kill them.
      Alexander the Great couldn’t conquer Afghanistan, nor the British (twice),  the Russians or the Americans in conjunction with 50 allied nations.  We shouldn’t be there or fighting anywhere beyond our shores!

      Reply

    • PaulB says:

      07:39am | 20/12/10

      OK Josh, get your rifle and go.  Lead by example.  Maybe you could get some of your IDF mates to loan you some body armour, but really I suspect you’d be safe.  Real Al Qaeda members are in fact very thin on the global ground, as you well know.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      12:15pm | 20/12/10

      Didn’t you read the article PaulB? The IDF have already made their contribution.

    • Adam Diver says:

      07:53am | 20/12/10

      I support the war in Afghanistan. But you listed 136 Australians that have lost their life, leading to or because of this war. Without even looking at the stats, I am sure the war has caused more than 136 civilian casualties for the Afghani population.

      Not that this takes aware from any loss of life, but any argument for war has to be greater than individual stories, it should focus on democracy, regional and global stability, and large improvements in living conditions and human rights.

      Playing small target is emotive and wrong, decisions of such magnitude should be made rationally, and with plenty of thought. Please don’t cloud the debate.

      Reply

    • Whisperer says:

      08:02am | 20/12/10

      I am sorry Joshua but i disagree with you for this is a conflict that our nation should never been involved in in the first place .The yanks are totally responsible for this mess when they lied to relevant governments of the existence of weapons of mast destruction ,and guess what none were ever found .We should withdraw immediately and tell the yanks to go take a flying jump.We have been subject to this political point scoring by the yanks before ,Vietnam, and still our gutless leaders continue to commit our brave soldiers for causes that are clearly not ours.Every family that has lost loved ones in this war should be suing the American government for compensation.

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      08:48am | 20/12/10

      You do realise this is Afghanistan and not Iraq right?

      If you can’t tell the difference between the two conflicts then maybe you shouldn’t be commenting.

    • Whisperer says:

      09:13am | 20/12/10

      Whether its Iraq,Afghanistan or Vietnam the point is its all been politically motivated by the yanks for their own gain and all three conflicts should never had Australian troops deployed.

    • TimB says:

      10:27am | 20/12/10

      Whisperer please tell me what you think the exact reasons are for the Afghanistan conflict so I can confirm my opinion of your total lack of understanding.

      Whilst your do that, also try and tell me why you think the personel of 47 other nations are also there.

    • Greg says:

      12:12pm | 20/12/10

      You first TimB. Tell us exactly why the war in Afghanistan is justifiable.

      There were no Afghanis involved in the 911 attacks. The majority of terrorists were Saudi Arabian, as is Osama Bin Laden.

      If OBM relocated to a cave in Australia, would it be OK for the US and their subservient minions to bomb the crap out of us?

    • TimB says:

      12:53pm | 20/12/10

      @ Greg. If the Australian government refused to co-operate with the US and hand him over (or help find him) then yes, it would be ok.

      Then after they’d ousted our government and generally made the country incredibly unpleasant, I’d expect them to fix their mess right back up again.

      Thankfully our goverment (as incompetent as it may be) isn’t anywhere near as despicable as the Taliban was, so I don’t see your scenario ever ocurring.

    • Greg says:

      01:56pm | 20/12/10

      TimB,

      The US and allied forces have not been able to find ObL, despite all of their advanced technology and military intelligence, even after 9 years of occupation. What chance did a medieval authority like the Taliban have?

      If “not handing over ObL”  is sufficient justification for bombing somebody, then should we expect some extra “friendly fire” on US forces in Afghanistan the near future?

      I’ll think that you will also find that the US are not known for paying war reparations. Ask the Vietnamese or the Serbs.

      I agree that my scenario was hypothetical. Of course the Australian government would be happy to handover ObL if they could. But the point was to see the scenario from the Afghani perspective.

      Maybe a better scenario would be to consider whether we ought to handover Assange to the US upon demand. After all, some US politicians have labelled him a terrorist too.

      In the unlikely event that our government didn’t immediately comply with the demands of a foreign power, would that give them the right to bomb us and invade the country?

    • TimB says:

      02:30pm | 20/12/10

      Greg you missed the critical part of my post.  “Refusal to co-operate”.

      The Taliban actively opposed the US and were allied with Bin Laden.

      Sorry, but if you’re deliberately allying yourself with someone who masterminds a large scale terrorist attack, and then provide shelter and support to said person, don’t act all upset when victim of the aforementioned attack comes out swinging.

    • TheRealDave says:

      03:01pm | 20/12/10

      @greg, you might have missed the bit where the Taliban, who were running Afghanistan gave Al Queda free run of the place to setup training camps, house equipment, troops, supplies and worked hand in hand with them. Thats kinda why we went in and kicked them both out and why we are still there.

      You might have missed/forgotten that bit…it was about 9 years ago now, people tend to forget things they don’t really actually want to remember since they are vested in a differing opinion down the track.

    • Greg says:

      03:35pm | 20/12/10

      TimB, it is the right of a sovereign nation to “refuse to cooperate” with another nation, or even to oppose its policies. In 1939, Poland refused to cooperate with Germany and handback the Danzig corridor and all the associated ethnic German citizens. Did that justify the German invasion?

      The US claimed that Iraq had WMD too, but was proven wrong. Who can be sure that ObL was ever in Afghanistan? US claims have been proven to be unreliable.

      And even if he was once there, who can say where he is now, or even if he is still alive? So what is the current justification for the continued occupation of Afghanistan? And in any case, why is Australia getting involved in an argument between the USA and Afghanistan?

      And you didn’t answer the Assange scenario.

    • TimB says:

      04:42pm | 20/12/10

      Greg, you should read Dave’s post above. He nails it. The Taliban aren’t some poor innocent victims in all of this. They deserve everything they’re getting.
      We’re there because the Taliban helped support an attack on the United States and we’re fufilling our obligations under the ANZUS treaty. Not to mention our own national interests at shutting down a hotbed of terrorist activity. And we’re still there because the Taliban have yet to be fully finished off. Ask yourself why the multitude of other nations are there, clearly they see something in it beyond simply following the lead of the USA.

      As for your Assange situation, (which I confess I missed in your post), if Assange can be shown to have a committed a crime then he should be extradited just like anyone else. The Australian government would agree and act accordingly.

      Don’t tell me you’re one of those moronic truthers who thinks 9/11 was some big conspiracy and Bin Laden just a patsy.

    • jim morris says:

      08:08am | 20/12/10

      Despite all the sincerity expressed by the author the fact is that 5 minutes after the foreign troops leave, Afghanistan will be wholly under Taliban control. To think otherwise is simply a delusion, however noble. Wasting more lives and money on top of the lives and dollars already wasted is nothing more than pig-headedness.

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      08:36am | 20/12/10

      So you managed to read as far into the Cablegate documents as Rudd ruminating on folk dancing festivals but you neglected the bits where - Jemah Islamiah is no longer a viable force for terrorist action in the Pacific, Al Qaeda’s leadership has relocated to Georgia, and Pakistan is funding and arming the Taliban remnant?

      This might pass for a stump speech at your RSL and I’m sure the digger’s would jitter their 10 ounce beers in delight at your robust rhetoric, but the rest of Australia actually expects something of substance to explain why we’re still fighting Vietnam 2: ‘Nam Harder.

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      08:37am | 20/12/10

      Nope, I disagree.  We need to get out now.  Whether the troops stay another 6 months or 10 years, as soon as they leave, the Taliban will be back in power.  You can’t win a war on terrorism - that’s a fantasy.

      It’s Vietnam again.  They might as well leave now and strongly consider telling the Americans to sod off the next time they ask us to go meddling with them.

      Reply

    • yofussn says:

      09:13am | 20/12/10

      So lets just forget the inebidable too grim to contemplate precedent our actions are setting.  But regardless lets just imagine for a moment King Kong or I a tolya he’s a meany useing as the example the west is setting to justify another all in world war with considerable death carnage & destruction resulting, all the while we disregard the considerabley formidable Chinese propensity to use their millitary might to further their own intersts & causes, are they establishing bases throughout South East Asia & the pacific for nothing, hopefully may we assume it is for thegood of the general stability of our new world order, as we are all part of the new global equillibrium which requires all countries to get on & trade & deal with each other to keep the world going around so to speak, so isn’t it time we stopped trying to play cowboys & indians & actually move on into a new era of cooperation shareing careing & actually helping each other without resorting to force to achieve secertive deviant self serving ends.

      Reply

    • Ironside says:

      10:32am | 20/12/10

      For those of you who are claiming that Afghanistan is another Vietnam….you do actually realise that the US actually won in Vietnam? Don’t think so? Look again. The whole premise for the US to go to war in Vietnam was to prevent the southward flow of communism. Now weather you believe the domino theory was valid or that communists were not as big a threat as made out, the fact is that the cold war geopolitical dynamic forced the Americans hand they had to go to war there. Now they won every major battle with the North Vietnamese and every time the Vietcong came out for a straight up fight they got smacked as well. So fast forward to the 70’s the US pulls out and the north takes over the south….does communism spread any further south? The answer is no. By the US fighting a holding action in Vietnam they did 2 things, they effectively focused Russian and Chinese communist efforts on a single area of the globe rather than allowing them freedom of action to cause trouble in other places that were more vital to the west, such as the middle east. They also purchased themselves over a decade during which time they were able to stabilise the governments of south east asia making them less vulnerable to being usurped by the communists. Now compare this to Afghanistan. ( I will ignore the fact that many of you who are claiming Afghanistan is the new Vietnam were saying the same thing about Iraq in 2007 and iraq seems to be doing ok not great but ok) The use are building partnerships with regional governments to try and stabilise them and reduce the influence of extremists. The overall goal is to prevent Afghanistan from being an effective safe harbour for international terrorists. They will achieve that. In the meantime they will do a lot of good rebuilding infrastructure supporting the right for women to be educated. Providing alternatives to poppy for farmers.

      You left wing, neo communist, touchy feely treehugger anti western types need to get a grip and stop being anti US just because you can.

      Reply

    • James1 says:

      12:40pm | 20/12/10

      Oh I see now.  Withdrawing without acheiving any core objectives is victory, peace is war, ignorance is strength and all that, after all.

      I wouldn’t jump the gun on Iraq yet, Ironside.  Much as the situation has improved, I will reserve judgement until the bribe money for the Sons of Iraq and al Sadr’s militia runs out, lest I look a fool in ten years time.

    • Kevin says:

      12:57pm | 20/12/10

      LOL.  Thanks for laughs.  I almost thought the above post was serious until I got to the final paragraph.  Comedy gold.

    • Eddy says:

      04:57pm | 20/12/10

      Ironside,
      Your recollection of U.S. battles and involvement in Vietnam is just a tiny bit skewed, I’d suggest a little more research from unbiased sources, as I am an Australian Vietnam Vet, I can assure you, the U.S. did NOT win every battel as you claim.
      Moreover, if you feel as you say you do inyour post, please find your way to the nearest recruiting office and avail the Australian military of your expertise, I’m positive they’d sincerely appreciate it.

    • Tripper Smurf says:

      11:02am | 20/12/10

      I do remember this argument being used before about 40 to 50 years ago in some former French colony.

      While what we are attempting to accomplish is admirable (if you believe the publiscied war aims of the American-led coalition) there are ways and means to accomplish your goal to consider as well.

      Reply

    • Leto says:

      11:16am | 20/12/10

      And what do the Afghani’s say to the 8991 - 28583 (estimated) direct and indirect deaths as a result of the war in Afghanistan?

      Oh that’s right, they don’t get a say, because they were INVADED!

      You remind me of a WWI officer blowing his little whistle shouting “Over the top, men”

      Lets just keep invading countries (Iran or North Korea next?) and never both to ask the reason why so many people are pissed off at Western nations. I mean, it couldn’t be that we have been f#cking them over for the last century or so could it?

      Honour, axis, sacrifice, fallen, cause, duty… the language politicians to talk about war. Blood, rage, sadness, insanity, pointlessness, murder, death, disease, hopelessness, futility… the actualities.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      12:54pm | 20/12/10

      Those naughty western nations, allowing to spew off your ignorance, protecting you, providing you with opportunity, providing most of the aid and with the added guilt we constantly get placed with.

      Perhaps we should of asked Saddam over for a coffee and to not use chemical weapons on his own people.

      This western guilt has got to stop, you know why a lot of countries hate the west, they are jealous of thier prosperity. Hell if we are so bad, why do we have so many refugees trying to claim asylum throughout the west.

    • Leto says:

      01:19pm | 20/12/10

      Do you mean the chemical weapons that were supplied by the good old US of A?

      I would suggest that they want to come here because we don’t bomb the shit out of them on Christmas Island.

    • 9/11 Truther says:

      12:02pm | 20/12/10

      The west is in Iraq and Afghanistan because Israel runs western foreign policy. They heavily influence the US and the UK. Australia went into it because their big brother’s went into it. The rest of Europe such as NATO were suckered into it again with Zionist influence. The only real enemy and occupation that effects european and western interests is Israel it’s self. It’s influence should be entirely removed from the west. That’s basically it! If there was no Israeli influence in the west, there would be no western troops in the middleast.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      12:56pm | 20/12/10

      If israel had such power, why does palestine still exist or its many enemies in the region?

    • stephen says:

      01:36pm | 20/12/10

      If ‘they’, meaning Israel, is influencing Foreign Policy,(our, or anyone else’s’), then they are entitled to. If it is in their interest to promote and facilitate it’s own peace objective without encroaching on a host’s official foreign stance, then they should be welcomed. (These two are not antithetical.)
      Israel’s antagonists are, we know now, financed by Iran, who has vowed to ‘wipe Israel off the map’.
      Perhaps the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is a good starting point for, not reconciliation, but conciliation.
      Israel has as much right to be where she is as has Palestine.
      I rarely hear mentioned the ‘Arab’ influence, as much as the Zionist’ one.

    • Simon from Belmore says:

      01:39pm | 20/12/10

      9/11 Truther is right, the jews do run policiy in America - just have to look at the Jewish Lobby.

      But then again its no different to Saudi Arabia, Bush Snr and cheneys best friend..

      What America is trying to achieve is a pro America crescent of nations around the Gulf, thus trying to make it more stable, just Iran and Palestine are in there way.

      It will just be interesting to see what happens when America pulls their money from Iraq and stops paying off local malitias.

      The huge problem for America is they went in with to few troops in the intial invasion and the surge through 07 should of been the number in 03 with that they never had a strategy for once they were there, the main focus of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield was ‘shock and awe’ and then deal with whats left afterwards, which was a country boardering on civil war.

      Hopefully it becomes a prosperous nation in the middle east and uses its oil reserves smartly.

    • TheRealDave says:

      03:13pm | 20/12/10

      Yes, the filthy Zionist Bankers run US Policy….when of course the equally filthy Arabs cashed up with Petro dollar aren’t running it that is…..

      *yawn*

      Sometimes I see a point to not having compulsory voting…usually at the same time I think mandatory sterilisation should be implemented.

    • 9/11 Truther says:

      05:31pm | 20/12/10

      Oh Please don’t make it look like it’s 50/50 when it’s not the case.
      Obama’s Advisors, Bush;s all seem be Israeli and some are rabbi’s.

      Israeli influence is greatly deflated and made to look like they don’t have any influence. Why would the white christian western man want to go into Iraq and Afghanistan? First his rationality won’t allow that, his morality won’t support it and he has no interest in it.

      Under-miners, spinners every time one brings up the point.
      From what i see is that the west is greatly corrupted and occupied by power, which the Israeli Zionists seem to hold.

      We can only live so long in a fictional world, reality day will come.

    • Grumpy says:

      12:04pm | 20/12/10

      I want to know how they can find Sadam in a hole in the middle of a desert but Bin Laden, the guy the whole world is supposed to be after, starting this war, is still hanging out with his buddies laughing at America…I worry about the future with anxiety because we ally ourselves with a nation as reckless as the United states. Its something im ashamed to be a part of by being a citizen here…The simple lives that people in those countries have continually destroyed by other countries meddling, let them revolt, let them decide when they have had enough of fundamentalist government .the war we are fighting is all for nothing at the cost of innocent afghans who just want to live out their lives without being shelled by pompous self righteous nations like ours and the US. This does not make the world a safer place, it makes us more of a target to the extremists and who can blame them?

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      12:42pm | 20/12/10

      “But most tellingly of all, were Australia to exit before the job is done, what would one say to the families of the 21 Australian soldiers Killed in Action and the 152 Wounded in Action since 2001? These 21 brave men have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and we owe it to them to stay the course.”

      Such a fatuous “argument”.  Because people have died we should put other people in danger of dying.  There may be good arguments for staying in Afghanistan, but this is not one of them.  I bet the family of the 21st casualty are wishing we had bailed after the 20th.

      Reply

    • The Badger says:

      01:11pm | 20/12/10

      Perhaps they could just find the speech that was given to the families of the more than 500 Australian soldiers killed in action and the more than 2000 wounded in Vietnam?

    • Kevin says:

      02:33pm | 20/12/10

      Agree.  And we never should have pulled the troops from the shores of Gallipoli.

    • TheRealDave says:

      03:14pm | 20/12/10

      We never pulled out of Elands River…..

    • Theo says:

      06:45pm | 20/12/10

      “We must never forget the brutal slaying of nearly 3000 innocent civilians in 9/11 was planned by Al Qaeda from their safe haven in Afghanistan.”

      The 9/11 attacks were planned in Hamburg, Germany.  Mohammed Atta, acknowledged as the ringleader of all 19 of the 9/11 hijackers moved into an apartment in Hamburg in 1998 along with eight other members: three suicide pilots, three logistical planners and two others.  Google ‘9 11 hamburg germany’.

      Two other members were living in San Diago, California in the two years prior to the 9/11 attacks.  One of them was even listed in the public telephone directory.  Google ‘9 11 hijackers san diago california’.

      And then Google ‘9 11 financing saudi arabia’ for the role that a number of Saudi princes had in the financing of Al Qaeda.

      No mention is ever made of these other countries becasue they’re never going to be bombed or invaded are they?

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      10:15pm | 20/12/10

      We spend millions of dollars bombing them and then complain when they come over here as refugees. Of course Australia should stay the course in Afghanistan. We have millions of dollars to waste and we need more refugees for our detention centers

      Reply

    • Harquebus says:

      11:24pm | 20/12/10

      Easy to say when you’re not the one doing the fighting. So, Joshua, why don’t you enlist and set an example. Put your own life on the line.

      Reply

    • sammy says:

      05:02pm | 21/12/10

      thanks for clarifying that josh and why i won’t ever vote liberal federally, hope the wedding went well!!

      Reply

    • pp et al says:

      06:40pm | 21/12/10

      the real question to be be asked in this political context is ...

      How and Why is Josh Frydenberg the federal member of Kooyong?
      we miss you Petros and you don’t know what you have got till it’s gone..your’e a legend and master glad to see you are working for Ted in the state of victoria!!

      Reply

    • Jim Lamb says:

      10:16pm | 21/01/11

      Afghanistan is a futile war.Anyone that supports it ,is supporting a disgusting imoral,corupt government.The slaughter of young soldiers that are only being sacrificed to supprt their governments total obedience to please America.  America has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of inocent people,in Iraq and Afghanistan in revenge for the 9/11 attack Put the whole world in turmoil caused terror attacts throughout the world.How on earth can countries go on supporting such a futile war?.And they are no further forward from day one, of finding and bringing to justice,the man that supposed to have committed the attack.If Australia says it will Stay the course It’s Lieing.Australia will pull out when America does.

      Reply

    • Davi says:

      07:10pm | 17/04/12

      Mr. Frydenberg,

      You say that “We must be under no illusions”, but the ideas you are defending in this articles themselves are illusions.
      EVERYBODY knows this war is not about duty, peace, freedom or justice. It is not about giving a better life to the people in Afghanistan. It is about oil! It has always been. This sentimental discuss only deceives the readers.
      Why aren’t there interventions in countries such as Peru for example? Where people also suffer human rights violations? Where the drug traffic affects everyone’s lives in catastrophic ways? The answer is obvious: there is nothing valuable in those countries to the eyes of the politicians in front of this war. Nothing they can take after “freeing” the poor inhabitants. By the way: more civilians have died in Afghanistan as operational “collateral effects” than in the famous September 11.
      This war is completely hypocrite and Australia should not be part of it.

      Reply

    • Mark Guest says:

      07:16pm | 30/08/12

      We are fighting to stop Terrorists and the oppression of women.  Why don’t we start in Auburn, Bankstown and at the various outlaw biker drug clubs?

      Reply

    • Stop the war please says:

      09:10am | 01/09/12

      We must never forget the real cause of 911 was USA/Russia destoyed the peace of Afghanistan during the cold war.  Al-Qaeda didn’t start without anything, it started when the super nations using Afghanistan as a battlefield. How you treated people is how people will treat you.

      We must never forget there are also thousands of Afghanistan civilian killed in the war, by both the terriosts and coalitions. It is already 9 years since 911 and there are much more Afghanistan killed in the war than 911. They are also loved by their familes and friends, their lives are as valuable as the Australian’s.
      We should stop the war, stop adding more hate. If USA & European countries do not accept foreign armies settle in their own countries, why should they do this to the Central Asian / Middle East countries? I don’t think it is justice.

      Reply
 
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